Go Tell It on the Mountain - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
“Go Tell It on the Mountain” is a spiritual song and also considered as a Christmas carol since the lyrics celebrates the birth of Jesus and Christmas is mentioned in the lyrics. The song was compiled by John Wesley Work Jr., which also is attributed as the songwriter whereas the origin of the melody is unknown. Peter, Paul and Mary as well as Simon & Garfunkel has recorded the song.
The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.
Melody & full accompaniment
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Go Tell It on the Mountain guitar tab and notes (pdf)
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Go Tell It on the Mountain instrumental guitar (mp3)
Go Tell It on the Mountain (full accompaniment)
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Go Tell It on the Mountain guitar accompaniment
Go Tell It on the Mountain for flute
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" for flute in the key of C. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Go Tell It on the Mountain flute
Go Tell It on the Mountain (only melody)
“Go Tell It on the Mountain” standard and tablature notation for guitar presented as an image.
Tips on how to learn this song
“Go Tell It on the Mountain” repeats many of its melodic motifs, which helps the process to learn the song. The song has a AABBAA structure, which can be seen if it's broken down into six parts with four bars in each. The first and last two parts are similar and so is the third and fourth parts.
Lyrics and chords
Go Tell It on the Mountain chords in the key of G
Chorus:
(G)Go, tell it on the mountain,
(D)over the hills and (G)every(C)where;
(G)go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus (D7)Christ is (G)born.
Verse 1:
While (G)shepherds kept their watching
o’er (D)silent flocks by (G)night,
behold, throughout the heavens
there (A)shone a holy (D)light.
Chorus:
[reprise]
Verse 2:
The (G)shepherds feared and trembled
when (D)lo! above the (G)earth
rang out the angel chorus
that (A)hailed our Savior‘s (D)birth.
Chorus:
[reprise]
Verse 3:
Down (G)in a lowly manger
the (D)humble Christ was (G)born,
and God sent us salvation
that (A)blessed Christmas (D)morn.
Poetic and archaic words:
o'er = over
lo = look
The progression consists of only four chords. The verses end with a so-called perfect cadence (IV - V - I) whereas the ending in the choruses is constituted by a so-called authentic cadence (V7 - I).
The key can be transposed by using a capo. These are the keys that the song would transpose in depending on which fret the capo is put:
- Capo 1: G# / Ab major
- Capo 2: A major
- Capo 3: A# / Bb major
- Capo 4: B major
- Capo 5: C major
Key, time, tuning and tempo
Information about "Go Tell It on the Mountain" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of Go Tell It on the Mountain is played in the key of G.
Time signature
The song is played in 4/4 tempo (counted one, two, three for each measure)
Tuning
The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).
Tempo (BPM)
The tempo in beats per minute is 110 for the presented version.